IN ORDER…A MATTER TIME
JEREMIIAH 38-40; PSALMS 74, 79
AUGUST 18, 2017

After years of warning God’s promised judgement, The Babylonians finally arrive and sack the city.

Jeremiah 39.1-3 
In January of the ninth year of King Zedekiah’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came with his entire army to besiege Jerusalem. 2 Two and a half years later, on July 18 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign, a section of the city wall was broken down. 3 All the officers of the Babylonian army came in and sat in triumph at the Middle Gate:… 

Like the warning lights on your dash (Dummy Lights) is the warning Jeremiah has been giving the people. The Dummy Lights warn you to change, check or replace something or it will be just a matter of time before the predicted break down occurs. 

Jeremiah’s prediction is much like in our times the predicted return of Christ, that will usher in the Great Tribulation (judgement). After this much time passing between Christ’s accession and promise to return again many people doubt that it will actually happen.

II Peter 3
4 They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.” 

But it is just a matter of time, God’s time.
 
8 But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. 

So what is God waiting for why is He so patient about His promise?

9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. 

The same reason He was so patient in Jeremiah’s day. He loves people and wants nobody to perish!

Jeremiah 39.15-18
15 The Lord had given the following message to Jeremiah while he was still in prison: 16 “Say to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: I will do to this city everything I have threatened. I will send disaster, not prosperity. You will see its destruction, 17 but I will rescue you from those you fear so much. 18 Because you trusted me, I will give you your life as a reward. I will rescue you and keep you safe. I, the Lord, have spoken!’” 

Jesus will come again and the Great Tribulation will judge the world. How should we be spending our time until that time?

II Peter 3
14 And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight. 15 And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved. 

Living for Jesus and evangelizing the world.

“Dear Lord allow me the grace to live this day as if were the day you are returning. May I be found loving you and the people that need to know you before you come again. Help me witness to my family, friends and any person the Holy Spirit places on my heart and be done with temporal pursuits that distract me from eternal realities. I know that it is just a matter of time and you will keep your promise. Amen”